As you study the Doctrine and Covenants in Come, Follow Me this year, you can deepen your understanding by exploring the stories and viewing photos of places where sacred events occurred. This is one in a series of articles about key Church history sites.
Several historic Church history sites in Iowa and Nebraska have been preserved by the Church for visitors to enjoy either in person or virtually.
Kanesville Memorial
Kanesville, a part of Council Bluffs, Iowa, was a major Latter-day settlement built up to support the thousands of Saints driven from their homes in Nauvoo, Illinois. They established Kanesville as a way station due to difficulties in crossing the Iowa Territory. The Kanesville Memorial remembers the sacrifices of this community of Saints and highlights three important events that occurred in the area: the mustering of the Mormon Battalion, the reorganization of the First Presidency with Brigham Young as President, and the rebaptism of Oliver Cowdery, a close associate of Joseph Smith and the primary scribe for the Book of Mormon.
See the page Kanesville Memorial for schedule, photos, and information about visiting.
Mount Pisgah Monument
The Mount Pisgah Monument, located near the town of Thayer, Iowa, commemorates the Latter-day Saints who passed away at the temporary settlement of Mount Pisgah along the Mormon Trail.
The cemetery at Mount Pisgah includes as many as 150 Latter-day Saint pioneers who lived in the temporary settlement of Mount Pisgah between 1846 and 1852. The original grave markers are long gone, but a 12-foot-high obelisk memorializes those who died at Mount Pisgah and provides the names of 63 of those interred there. Interpretive markers can be found in the adjacent county park.
Mount Pisgah was one of three temporary way stations Latter-day Saints established in central Iowa during the exodus from Nauvoo. Between 2,000 and 3,000 pioneers lived in Mount Pisgah at its height, and thousands more stopped there briefly on their way west. Although the community provided refuge and a chance for the Saints to rest and prepare for their journey further west, illness was rampant and the death rate was high. Mount Pisgah and the other settlements in central Iowa were completely abandoned in 1852, when Church leaders called Latter-day Saints still residing in the Midwest to gather to Utah.
See the page Mount Pisgah Monument for information about visiting.
Mormon Trail Center and Temple at Winter Quarters
Winter Quarters was one of as many as 90 Latter-day Saint settlements along the Missouri River in Nebraska and Iowa. Although the settlements were temporary homes on the way to the Salt Lake Valley, many Saints worked and built as if they would stay there for decades. They established successful farms and businesses and even published a newspaper. Brigham Young and other Church leaders spent time at Winter Quarters, ministering to the Saints and helping them prepare to travel west. While there, Brigham received a revelation that helped the Saints organize themselves and prepare spiritually for the trek. That revelation became Doctrine and Covenants 136.
The exhibits in the Mormon Trail Center describe the Latter-day Saints’ westward migration to the Salt Lake Valley in Utah by wagon, handcart, sailing ship, and train. Next to the trail center are the Mormon Pioneer Cemetery and the Winter Quarters Nebraska Temple. The Mormon Pioneer Cemetery, which was a burial site for some of the pioneers who died at Winter Quarters, includes a monument called Tragedy of Winter Quarters, sculpted by Avard Fairbanks.
The Winter Quarters Nebraska Temple was the first temple built in Nebraska. It is one of three temples built in locations of historic significance for the early Church. (The other two temples are the Palmyra New York Temple and the Nauvoo Illinois Temple.)
See the Winter Quarters Nebraska Temple page for a schedule of temple sessions and information about attending.
Learn more about the Church’s historic sites at history.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
Related articles:
- “What to Expect When You Visit the Church’s Historic Sites in Nebraska and Iowa“
- “A Guide to Historic Sites of the Latter-day Restoration” published by the Church News.
The post A Visitor’s Guide to Church History Sites in Iowa and Nebraska first appeared on LDS365: Resources from the Church & Latter-day Saints worldwide.
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